(born Jan. 2/12, 1751, Naples—died Jan. 4, 1825, Naples) King of the Two Sicilies (1816–25). He became king of Naples in 1759, as Ferdinand IV, when his father ascended the Spanish throne as Charles III.
A weak ruler, he was greatly influenced by his wife, Maria Carolina of Austria (1752–1814). He engaged Naples in the Austro-English coalition against the French Revolution in 1793. The French then invaded Naples, and he fled to Sicily (1798–99, 1806–16). He returned to Naples in 1816 after the fall of Napoleon, as king of the united Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. His despotic rule led to an uprising in 1820, after which he was forced to grant a constitution. With Austria's aid, he overthrew the constitutional government in 1821.
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